Post-Brexit, the UK relies more than ever on its reputation for good corporate governance and sound financial auditing, but, over the last decade, a string of corporate failures and auditing scandals has undermined that reputation. The government has recently published a consultation paper on ‘Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance.’ This responds to three major investigations by Sir John Kingman, the Competition & Markets Authority, and Sir Donald Brydon. It contains a plethora of proposals and asks for comments by 8 July. We are therefore convening a virtual roundtable to facilitate a high-level discussion about whether the proposals will tackle the underlying problems and meet the ambitious aims of the consultation paper. Our specialist panel for the round table will be:
Lord Prem Sikka
Martin Webster, Partner, Pinsent Masons
Scott Cormack, Former audit partner, KPMG
Chris Rees, Professor of Employment Relations, Royal Holloway, University of London

The UK faces a fast-changing defence landscape at time when new threats and new technologies require that we focus closely on key priorities, work closely with allies, and provide the appropriate resources for our armed services. The recently published government ‘Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy’ is a widely scoped prospectus which does not go into detail and does not reconcile existing budgetary issues. These matters are important, particularly for our economy, our industries and the workers employed in them. Shadow Secretary of State for Defence, Rt Hon John Healey MP, will lead an Industry Forum virtual roundtable on the topic of ‘Issues and priorities for UK defence’.

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Most business people see that the pandemic has caused serious damage to some important sectors like hospitality and aviation. Furthermore, it is clear that we need to expand other sectors such as renewable energy, construction and digital infrastructure to address climate change and preserve employment and prosperity levels. They are less clear about government strategy and whether current plans meet the scale of the challenges and opportunities we face. Sir John Armitt, Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission will outline the recently announced National Infrastructure Strategy and lead a discussion of how infrastructure projects could lead to a robust recovery.

Speakers include:

Sir John Armitt, Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission

Jonathan Hart, Infrastructure Partner, Pinsent Mason LLP

Lila Thompson, CEO, British Water

Jonathan Collins, External Affairs Manager, Cadent Gas

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Is rapidly paying back pandemic borrowings an economic priority or a political red herring? This was an underlying question when Bridget Phillipson MP, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and leading economists Andrew Smith and Josh Ryan-Collins discussed ‘Paying for the the Pandemic’ at a recent Industry Forum virtual round table. Government decisions on borrowings, taxes and investment will determine the speed of recovery of damaged sectors and restructuring towards the industries and skills of the future, the success of regional economic rebalancing, our ability to tackle urgent social problems, and the speed of decarbonisation. Overall, this could mean the difference between a powerful economic bounce-back or another decade of austerity. New US president, Joe Biden, has clearly opted to borrow more to fund a robust recovery but it is not clear whether the UK will follow suit.

Speakers:

Bridget Phillipson MP, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Andrew Smith, Chief Economist, Industry Forum

Josh Ryan-Collins, Head of Finance and Macroeconomics, Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, University College London (UCL)

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We had the transport ‘A team’ at an Industry Forum virtual roundtable on, ‘A Post-covid transport transformation?’. Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Jim McMahon MP, kicked off the event. Sector speakers were Andy Bagnall, Director General at the Rail Delivery Group; Katy Taylor, Chief Strategy and Customer Officer, Go-Ahead bus group; Nigel Milton, Director of Communications, Heathrow Airport, and Konstanze Scharring, Director of Policy at the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Key points of agreement were that: much of the transport industry has been seriously damaged financially by the big drop in travel during the lockdown; working practices have changed and we will not return to pre-pandemic office use and commuting patterns, and that there has been a massive mood change relating to the climate emergency which means that transport sectors will need to quickly lower carbon emissions. There was optimism that the challenges can be met although the need for a joined up transition plan, linked to a UK industrial strategy, was acknowledged.

Speakers:

Jim McMahon MP, Shadow Minister for Transport

Andy Bagnall, Director General, Rail Delivery Group

Katy Taylor, Chief Strategy and Customer Officer, Go-Ahead Group

Nigel Milton, Director of Communications, Heathrow

Konstanze Scharring, Director of Policy and Government Affairs, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT)

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The pandemic has transformed levels of state support for personal incomes and benefits, and highlighted some current and past shortcomings in such support. Key questions now relate to the withdrawal of emergency support and the need for for a future, more rational, and perhaps more generous approach to pensions and benefits. To explore such issues, Jonathan Reynolds MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and Anna Coote Principal Fellow of the New Economics Foundation led a wide-ranging Industry Forum online round table on the topic of ‘An integrated approach to pensions and benefits in recovery from the pandemic’. Topics covered included the triple lock on retirement pensions, inter-generational asset inequality, universal credit, the pension dashboard and how reform based on the goal of universal basic services would operate. Some new thinking is needed and decisions taken will affect government spending levels and how successfully the country recovers from the pandemic.

Speakers include:

Jonathan Reynolds MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Anna Coote, Principal Fellow, New Economics Foundation

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